Automated vehicle detection, counting and classification are important tools that are widely used by traffic planners. It helps local governments determine critical traffic flow time periods, maintenance schedules and optimal traffic enforcement time period, as well as enforcement of motor vehicle laws and regulations. These tools also aid incident detection, verification and response.
Conventional vehicle classification systems are based on laser scanners and in-ground sensors, which are typically used at toll booths for electronic toll collection, see http://www.osilaserscan.com/Products/Vehicle-Detection-and-Classification.aspx. These systems gather detailed information regarding a vehicle, such as its axle number, height, width, weight, length, profile, volume, etc., and determine the amount to charge the vehicle based on the acquired information. While these systems have high accuracy and precision, they are expensive to install/maintain and are not easily scalable to other applications, such as monitoring streets/bridges in a city. Consider that states and local municipalities have numerous ordinances that restrict trucks and buses of a certain size on particular roads. Automated enforcement via video imaging requires only a coarse vehicle classification to distinguish trucks or buses from other types of vehicles. Provided herein is a relatively low-cost and computationally efficient video-based solution for vehicle classification that may meet the requirements for traffic law enforcement in some jurisdictions.